Armenian from US: I do not know what the future holds for these people in Armenia

Sun 13 August 201711:43 GMT | 15:43 Local Time

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Armenian Weekly has published a review by Garo Tashian titled 'Why Did Armenia Not Feel Like Armenia?'.

In his article, Tashian writes about his trip to Armenia and lots of questions that he encountered while staying there. Tashian feels so many 'whys' and the feeling of sadness about the state his country is now in.

"After walking around the streets of Yerevan and meeting some of the locals, I began to think more about this country and the state it is in, and whether I could see myself moving there. Most of the locals I met, hearing I was from America, pleaded with me to help them figure out a way for them to go to the States—to (in their view) gain a better life.

"I felt great sadness when these people spoke about the troubling times in Armenia and what they saw as a lack of a future for themselves," he says in his article.

As many as 8700 people left Armenia in the first half of this year, according to National Statistical Service. The indicator shows that more and more people seek to abandon the country for better future.

The same striving is reflected in the article written by Tashian who admits openly that he does not know what the future holds for people in Armenia.

"I met a man whose family moved to Armenia during the Lebanese Civil War. He explained to me how they did exactly what many Syrian-Armenian families are doing now. According to him, his family was “fooled” into thinking Soviet Armenia offered a better life for them and said it was sad how Syrian-Armenians are being “fooled” into believing that, too. He said he could not wait until his children finished school so that he could join the rest of his family in the U.S. I had no answers for him, either," the article says.

Tashian also writes about an Armenian man whom he met during his stay in Armenia and who wondered how he could go to the United States. The man said he had two works but his state is still far from ideal. And Tashian didn't know what to advise to him.

"I met a taxi driver on my trip to the airport. He wanted nothing more than to move to Seattle, Wash., to drive trucks for a living. He drew an extended analogy (which revealed as much about him as about the situation in the country) about how the government is like the father of the family, the opposition is like the wife, those in coalition with the government are like the grandparents, and the people are like the kids. The father sets the rules for the household, he said; the wife does not always obey those rules, but is convinced that in the end she must; the grandparents always agree with the father; and the kids are too young to have a say. He made a comparison to how, in the middle of the night, the kids wake up having soiled themselves and wait for the government to help, but neither government nor opposition agrees to come and “save” the people from their sad state. He said we are the kids, in a soiled state, and there is no one here to help us. On so many levels… I did not know how to respond," the article reads.

He called on those Armenians who plan to repatriate to Armenia and all those who are still in the country to do everything possible for the future of the country.

As is known, Armenia is in a state of war with Azerbaijan since Armenia holds Azerbaijani lands under occupation, and its border with Turkey is closed. This isolation and the aggressive policy of the Armenian government against its neighbors hinders the development of that country. So people in Armenia should draw conclusions and admit that their government is to be blamed for the situation they are now in.